Impact of Cystotomy Location on Cystography Results

Objectives: This study aimed to determine if the location of a repaired bladder injury (trigone vs dome) impacts the probability of an abnormal cystography result in obstetric/gynecologic surgical patients undergoing repair of an unanticipated cystotomy.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of adult obstetric and gynecologic surgical patients who underwent cystographic evaluation of bladder integrity after repair of iatrogenic cystotomy at a single institution between January 2006 and July 2018. We excluded patients who had undergone repair of genitourinary fistula or urethral diverticulum. Patients were dichotomized into 2 groups based on the location of the repaired bladder injury: trigone versus dome. Fisher exact and Student t tests were used to determine the proportion of abnormal cystogram results and factors associated with an abnormal cystography result.

Results: Two hundred ten cases met the inclusion criteria: 176 in the dome group and 34 in the trigone group. When comparing the dome and trigone groups, respectively, mean age (45.2 ± 12.5 vs 48.4 ± 11.2 years) and cystotomy size (3.2 ± 3.2 vs 2.2 ± 2.4 cm) were comparable. Duration of postoperative bladder catheterization was longer in the trigone group (13.7 vs 12.1 days, P = 0.03). Despite the additional bladder drainage, there were more abnormal cystogram results in the trigone group versus the dome (8.8% vs 1.1%; odds ratio, 8.4).

Conclusions: A repaired cystotomy at the trigone is associated with increased odds of an abnormal cystography result. An abnormal cystography result after repair at the bladder dome is rare.